


the continent (and the people within it)

by FloingMachines



Series: stitching the continent together (for you) [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fighter Pilots AU, The Definition of Winning Is Flawed, The promised one shots, These are one shots from my other AU, dystopia au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloingMachines/pseuds/FloingMachines
Summary: The promised one-shots from The Definition of Winning (Is Flawed). It is absolutely critical that you read that AU to understand these one-shots! This includes scenes that I wanted to include, but couldn't find a place for, world building, those sweet sweet Clexa moments, and filling plot gaps.The Definition of Winning (Is Flawed) is the first work in this series.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Series: stitching the continent together (for you) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651222
Comments: 11
Kudos: 24





	1. Transcripts

**Author's Note:**

> The promised one shots!!!!  
> Just wanted to throw this out there: if there is anything specific you want to see out of these one-shots, please let me know! I'm totally open to prompts/suggestions.

The full trial transcripts were nearly 250 pages long and they weighed a ton. Abby set them down on Lexa’s desk with a heavy _thud_ and she couldn’t help but wince at the sound. There was no way she could read that in its entirety and live to tell the tale – she would most likely skim and read the testimonies that mattered most.

“Who testified?” She asked.

“A lot of people you don’t know or need to care about. Admittedly a large portion of this trial was internal affairs – Jaha had committed a lot of crimes. The testimonies most important to you are Jaha’s, Kane’s, Pike’s, Bellamy Blake’s, Clarke’s, and my own.”

“Thank you.” Lexa sighed.

“There’s not anything there that you don’t already know. This is mostly for your own reference.”

“I figured, but it’s better not to be caught off guard.”

“I would agree.” Abby nodded. “Has Clarke gone home?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“I need to leave to attend to business in the NADR. See to it that Clarke makes it back safely at some point or another.”

“I will.”

“I’ll be in contact soon about how to proceed with the Great Lakes Territory.”

“Then I will be waiting.”

They shook hands again and Abby Griffin left her office. No matter how many times Abby came in, her heart felt like it would beat straight out of her chest. She thumbed through the stack of papers on her desk and she fought the desperate urge to read Clarke’s testimony. Would she find out things she didn’t want to know? Would Clarke be okay with her reading something so…intense?

Curiosity got the better of her, and she was suddenly eternally grateful for the markers in the document, as Clarke’s testimony was marked. It was towards the middle of the transcript, and she guessed that this was where the part of the trial that pertained to her began.

_Prosecutor A: Please state your name and rank for the court._

_Clarke Griffin: Airman Clarke Griffin_

_A: Are you acquainted with current Commander Lexa Woods of the North American Republic?_

_C: Yes, I am._

_A: Do you know Commander Lexa Woods?_

_C: Yes._

_A: Would you like to describe how you know Commander Lexa Woods?_

_-Objection raised, leading question, objection overruled-_

_-Question repeated-_

_C: She downed my plane on a routine patrol._

_A: Was she in your care when she was brought in for prosecution?_

_C: Yes, she was._

_A: How close were you with Commander Lexa Woods?_

_C: You could say that we developed a tentative friendship._

Lexa couldn’t help but snort.

_A: Is it true that you helped Commander Lexa Woods escape NADR custody?_

_-Objection raised, leading question, objection sustained-_

_-Prosecutor A is asked to move on-_

_A: How would you describe your friendship with Commander Lexa Woods?_

_-Objection raised, asked and answered, objection sustained-_

_-Prosecutor A is asked to move on-_

_A: No further questions Your Honor._

“What do you have there?” Clarke tentatively opened the door to her office.

“Your testimony in Thelonious Jaha’s trial.”

“Oh.” Clarke walked over to the desk and stared at it. “That wasn’t a great day.”

“I can only imagine.”

“They knew that we were more than friends,” Clarke gritted her teeth. “There’s two other prosecutors that try and get me to divulge more information.”

“Good girl,” Lexa murmured to herself and nodded. “You’re good.”

“What did you say?”

“I say you’re good.”

“What did you say before that?” Clarke hopped up and sat on the edge of her desk.

“I, uh,” The words caught in Lexa’s throat.

“What did you say?” Clarke batted her eyes and Lexa found herself entranced by her blue eyes. _God, her eyes_ , she had forgotten how intense Clarke’s eyes were when she was focused.

“Good girl.” Her voice came out strained.

Clarke looked away and nodded. Lexa noticed a slight blush creeping up her neck and towards her cheeks. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk with a white-knuckled grip. When Clarke looked back she was biting her bottom lip nervously before leaning across her desk, careful of the stack of papers, and kissed Lexa.

“Ever made out with anyone in here?” Clarke asked.

“What? No!” Lexa was flustered. “This is my _office_.”

“Mm,” Clarke nodded. Her nose was inches from Lexa’s. “Does the door lock?”

“Clarke!”

“What?”

“We can’t,” She lowered her voice. “You know…in here.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s my office! What if there’s an emergency! Can you imagine?” Lexa covered her eyes with her hand as she grimaced. “I’d have to resign in disgrace!”

“Not if we don’t get caught.”

“Clarke…” She warned.

Clarke slide over the center of the desk and sat with her legs across Lexa’s lap as she looked over the open trial transcript. She wrapped her arms around Lexa’s neck and fiddled with the soft, little hairs at the base of her hairline.

“Prosecutor A, the first prosecutor. You really jumped over my direct examination, huh?”

“I wanted to know what they were asking you.”

“Nothing interesting.”

“It seems so. How many prosecutors examined you?”

“Four.”

“Wow.” Lexa breathed. “I’m sorry your life got turned around because of me.”

“It’s alright.”

“Abby said this didn’t come out during the trial, but Jaha forced me to cut contact with you. I don’t know if you knew that explicitly, but he said if I tried to contact you or anyone else he would immediately mount an attack.” Lexa rested her head against Clarke’s shoulder. “I didn’t want to. It was a horrible decision to make Clarke, it was so fucking hard.”

“You played the long game, though. You’re brilliant.”

“I was _miserable_.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t want to leave you, but I felt like I had no choice. If he declared war then I risked you being killed in combat, and then what was the point? I had to do it Clarke, I didn’t want to, but I had to.”

“Oh, Lexa.” Clarke breathed and turned Lexa’s head, so they were eye to eye. “I know.”

There were tears in Lexa’s eyes that were threatening to spill over. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be.” Clarke kissed her lips gently and the tears spilled over Lexa’s eyes at the gentleness of it. “What you had to do was so hard.” She whispered and kissed her again. “How absolutely unfair.”

Lexa sniffled a little bit, and she couldn’t help but feel like a small child. “I was so worried you would hate me, but really all that mattered is that you were safe.”

“Admittedly, I was upset at first, but it started to become obvious what had happened. I’m glad you’re safe too.”

“And now you’re here.”

“And now I’m here.”

Lexa laughed and Clarke wiped her tears off her checks with the pads of her thumbs before kissing her again. “Now you’re not going to be able to get rid of me.” Clarke joked.

“Good.” Lexa kissed her neck and Clarke chuckled in her throat. “Never leave.”

“I won’t.”


	2. Long Weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Occurs two years after the end of TDOWIF. As always if any of you guys have ideas/requests, I would love to hear them. Thank you for also giving a shout when you read this, I was a lil worried no one was going to read it lol.

The lake looked like an ocean. The sun glinted brightly off it and Lexa idly thought that she understood why everyone was so desperate for this land, it was beautiful here. Her boots folded the wet grass beneath her, and she took a deep breath of the fresh air, savoring the quiet of being outdoors and alone.

There was a small log cabin on the lake shore, and she strolled towards it leisurely. She had been Commander for five years now, and while things were never perfect or smooth, she felt like things were in a comfortable place. After three years of negotiating with the rest of the world and two years of coordinating with the NADR, things had finally reached a natural holding point.

They hadn’t quite reached an open border with the NADR yet, but they were getting close. The Great lakes Territory was an open space where people came to trade and to train, and it had become a flourishing place for everyone. It had taken time, but she had managed to carve out a place for herself within it too.

Everything was going better than she possibly could have asked for. She let herself sink into one of the chairs facing the lake and took a deep breath before closing her eyes. She could really do with a nice nap in the sun.

“Hey there.” She blinked in surprise and looked up to see Clarke Griffin standing over here. She smiled and sat up in the chair.

“Hey yourself,” She grinned. “I didn’t think you were coming.”

Clarke sat down with her legs across Lexa’s lap and her feet dangling over the side of the chair. “It took some convincing, I had to get out of a flight test.”

“Clarke!”

“What? I’ve been shot out of the sky and I’ve been across enemy lines _multiple_ times. Not to mention I’m _close_ ,” She rolled her eyes as she said it. “With Commander Woods, leader of the NAR and one of the best pilots on the continent.”

“One of the best?” She arched her eyebrow.

“The best except for when you shot me out of the sky.”

She laughed. “That’s fair.”

“It’s safe to say that I can get away with _a lot_ right now.”

“Still, you didn’t have to move your whole schedule around for me.”

Clarke sighed. “Every time I’ve been able to see you, you’ve been working. You’ve been working nonstop for two years, so when you told me you were going away for a long weekend with _no work_ , I was not going to miss out,” Clarke cupped her face and kissed her. “On having you all to myself.”

“I am very glad you came though.” Lexa pressed their foreheads together. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Clarke breathed. “I’ll try not to stay away for so long again.”

Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke’s middle and let her head rest gently on Clarke’s shoulders. On top of working nonstop for two years to orchestrate everything, Clarke had been gone for four months, almost entirely uninterrupted. Even though the trial had ended, the internal strife in the NADR had not, and Clarke had to return in order to finish her training and to help clean up the mess that Jaha had left.

Clarke had stopped by for a day or so every once in a while, but they hadn’t been truly alone or relaxed in months. Even when Clarke had been able to come by, she had always been semi-distracted by everything going on. In the middle of renegotiating with the NADR, she also was acting as a liaison for the NADR to Japan and the Scandinavian Federation, among other nations. Abby lacked the contacts she had, and she had spent the better part of the last two years attempting to reconnect the NADR with the rest of the world.

Fortunately, Abby Griffin was a savvy leader, and didn’t need much more help with that process than setting up the meetings. Her people were safe, and so were Clarke’s. And now she had the chance to spend time with Clarke, unfettered by the chaos in which she lived. Roan and Indra were under strict instructions not to come get her unless it was an absolute emergency, and Aden was acting Commander while she was gone.

Aden had grown so much in the past two years. He would be a fine Commander someday; he had proven his worth in spades. His kindness and compassion were his greatest strengths, and she admired the way his decision-making skills had developed alongside his natural kindness. Everything was falling into place.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Lexa reassured her. “You have to do what you have to do.”

“Things are still messy at home,” Clarke admitted. “We’re still tying up loose ends from the trial. Pike was sentenced two weeks ago.”

“Oh.” Lexa tried to hide the hurt in her voice. She didn’t know that Pike hadn’t been sentenced yet. “What happened?”

“During the trial, a lot of information came to light. He had killed _a lot_ of people. On the record we know he intentionally killed 11 of your people, but it could be more. He’s been sentenced to life in prison.”

“How’s your mother doing?”

Lexa hadn’t had a meeting with Abby in a month and a half, and their communication had been stretched thin by the mess left for Abby to clean up. The past four months hadn’t been easy, and she almost felt bad taking three days for herself, but she had to remind herself that she had earned it after all the hard work she had dedicated.

“Same as you, mostly. Fortunately, after two years it seems like we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“That’s good. Octavia said you were doing well the last time I spoke with her.”

“I think we’ll all just feel better when things start to settle.”

“Agreed.”

Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa’s neck, and they started at the expansive lake in front of them for a few minutes. Birds chirped happily in the trees around them and the sun was warming Lexa’s skin in addition to the closeness of Clarke’s body. It was quite the miracle that they were able to sit and enjoy the beautiful day.

Clarke’s fingertips traced the outline of Lexa’s bare arms and she hummed under her breath as she traced the lines on the muscle. “Short sleeves, I like it.” She commented.

“I can only wear them when I’m not on the job.” Lexa laughed.

“You should wear them more often.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Yes please.”

They laughed and Lexa hugged her arms around her tighter. “I’m cooking tonight, and I brought some wine.”

“Am I cooking tomorrow?” Clarke raised her eyebrows.

“I haven’t decided yet. Maybe.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Clarke looked back out to the lake. “I think I understand why everyone was fighting over this place for so long.”

“You do?”

“It’s beautiful here.”

“It is. That wasn’t the root of the problems, but yes, it is beautiful here.”

“And we get to be here.”

“Yes.”

They went inside shortly after and Lexa began working on dinner, with Clarke intermittently distracting her from her work. She was making a chicken and mixed vegetable dish that was all pan fried in the same pan. The wine she had brought along was a nice red wine that had been aged for a few years, and that was supposed to be saved for a special occasion.

Lexa thought that this certainly was a special occasion.

By the time Lexa had finished preparing and cooking, Clarke had set a blanket out on the lake shore with the two glasses of wine already poured. The sun was setting over the lake and the orange reflection made it seem like the endless expanse of water was on fire.

“This is a nice wine.” Clarke took a sip, her gaze never left Lexa’s eyes.

“It is.”

“Were you saving it for something?”

“A special occasion.”

Clarke hummed thoughtfully. “Is this a special occasion?”

“I think so.” Lexa took a sip. “Being able to take a weekend off sure is a special occasion. This is the first time I’ve even tried to relax in nearly five years.”

“Five years.” Clarke nodded. “I can’t believe it’s already been that long.”

“I know, it feels both longer and shorter than that, somehow.”

“How odd,” Clarke looked off into the distance. “If you asked me five years ago, I wouldn’t have known where I was going to be. If I had to guess, I would have been kicked out of the Air Force, but here I am.”

“Here you are.”

“Where did you think you would be in five years?”

“I thought…” Lexa also looked off into the distance. “Last year, I would have officially become Commander if I hadn’t called the Heda Protocol.”

“Wow.” It was all Clarke could manage out.

Lexa hadn’t quite realized that she wouldn’t have been Commander for four years if things hadn’t unfolded the way they had. A lot would be different. She wouldn’t be as happy as she was if things had unfolded the way they had intended.

“I’m glad things turned out the way they did.”

“You are?”

“This is a good ending.” Lexa nodded and took a long sip of her wine.

“An ending?”

“To this chapter, at least,” She added. “This is the end of the conflict caused by our plane crash.”

“I guess it is.” Clarke pursed her lips slightly before looking back at Lexa. “It’s a little bittersweet, isn’t it?”

“It is. Although too much of it was bitter for me to really mourn it.”

“Agreed.”

Clarke set her wine glass down and leaned across the picnic blanket to kiss Lexa. Her hand cupped the back of her neck as Lexa grabbed her shoulder and pulled Clarke forward over the blanket and closer to her. Lexa shifted her arms to pull Clarke flush to her body and deepen the kiss. There was no one around for miles, and it was practically guaranteed that no one was going to disturb them here.

Lexa let Clarke tug her simple short sleeved shirt off of her and she pushed Clarke’s loose shirt up, exposing toned abs, and separated her lips from Clarke’s momentarily to fling the shirt in the grass somewhere behind them. It was easy to get lost with her – in her – and Lexa didn’t mind the way the cold night air stung her exposed skin.

They were laying on the same blanket a while later, Clarke resting on her chest, and she traced delicate patterns up and down her spine. They should consider going in soon, it’s cold, but Lexa doesn’t want to move quite yet. Things feel good.

“Lexa, will you tell me about Costia?” Clarke asked suddenly.

She instinctively tensed at the question and sucked in a deep breath.

“You don’t have to, or anything. I just…” She trailed off. “I want to know.”

“There was nothing left to bury.”

It was an incoherent thought, and in retrospect a stupid thing to say. She couldn’t for the life of her come up with a good reason as to why she led with that.

“Because of the fire?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“A long time has passed now,” Lexa sighed. “I really trusted her. I never knew who I could trust, I still don’t, but I trusted her. A lot. It was more than trust really; at the time I think I really did love her. It’s complicated.”

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to keep talking about it if you don’t want to…I was just curious because you don’t talk about her much.”

“Things have changed since then. The only thing I regret is not killing Pike when I got the chance.”

“It wouldn’t have brought Costia back.”

“No, but justice would have been served. I’ll settle for him rotting in a cell for the rest of his life.”

“I’m sorry to bring it up and ruin the weekend.”

Lexa sat up. “You didn’t ruin it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Clarke looked at Lexa and Lexa couldn’t shake the lump in her throat when she looked in Clarke’s eyes. Her heart fluttered in her chest when she noticed the moonlight reflecting brightly from her blue irises.

“You said you loved her, and I know things have been so crazy, but…”

“But what?”

Clarke looked down and shied away a bit as a blush covered her cheeks. “Do you love me?”

“That wasn’t obvious?”

Clarke looked back up at her, her face caught between shock and laughter. “No!”

“Then I’ll make it official, I love you, Clarke Griffin.” She couldn’t help the smile that covered her face.

Clarke smiled and then giggled a little bit. “I love you too, Lexa Woods.”

“C’mon, let’s go back inside.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at machinerisms.tumblr.com


End file.
